The present invention relates, in general, to methods for improving the life of field emission displays, and, more particularly, to methods for in situ conditioning of electron emitters within field emission displays.
Field emission displays are well known in the art. A field emission display includes an anode plate and a cathode plate that define a thin envelope. The cathode plate includes column electrodes and gate extraction electrodes, which are used to cause electron emission from electron emitter structures, such as Spindt tips.
During the operating life of a field emission display, the emissive surfaces of the electron emitter structures can be altered, such as by adsorption of contaminants that are evolved from surfaces within the display envelope. The contaminated emissive surfaces typically have electron emission properties that are inferior to those of the initial, uncontaminated emissive surfaces.
It is known in the art to decontaminate or condition the emissive surfaces by scrubbing them with an electron beam in situ. The electron beam may be provided by the electron emitter structures. An example of this scheme is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,720, entitled xe2x80x9cField Emitter Array and Cleaning Method of the Samexe2x80x9d by Fukuta et al. However, this type of scheme can result in inefficient cleaning due to the electronic bombardment of surfaces other than the electron emissive surfaces, which can result in undesirable desorption of contaminants.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a method for improving the life of a field emission display, which overcomes at least this shortcoming of the prior art.